Bear with me...

Hello few faithful and patient followers!  First things first...yes, I broke my New Year's Resolution to create one blog each month but let's be honest...who actually keeps New Year's Resolutions? 

I love blogs.  I enjoy reading them anyway.  I don't know if it's a lifelong case of writer's block or the fact that everytime I sit down to compile something, I feel like what I have to say isn't that important.  But then I realize that many of you are simply friends wanting to hear about life, see photos of our adorable (sorry, I'm a bit biased) son and share everyday moments.

One of the blogs I enjoy reading offered advice on creating a great blog.  She said to write like you are talking to your sister.  Well, both of my sisters are tons of fun so we talk about all sorts of things.  I think I can totally do this...so here goes:

Our Lucas turned 2 at the end of July and we partied hard!  Grandpa, Gigi and Aunt Steph came to see me as well as our very-pregnant-with-twins Aunt Chrissy.  We had a Toy Story party at the park with several highlights:  balloons, great friends, bubbles, rock-angels and (save the best for last) CUPCAKES! 

Making Rock-Angels

Lucas has really started talking and repeating most of what he hears.  Recently, we were watching a Bible video about Moses and Lucas said, "Gog ket baby Mosek sate in baskek."  Translation: God kept baby Moses safe in the basket.  It warms my heart to hear Lucas learning about God and Jesus.  He has such a sweet spirit and we are so thankful that the Lord would bless us with this precious gift! 

Lucas has really started to sing a lot!  Some of his favorite songs are If You're Happy and You Know It, Jesus Loves Me, ABCs, This Is the Day, Jesus Loves the Little Children and My God is SO Big.  He also likes sports A LOT.  He and his daddy have enjoyed great bonding over the return of college football, the Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys (although it's difficult to enjoy the Cowboys here lately).  Whatever his daddy yells, he repeats:  "Touchdown," "touchdown!" "Backwards," "backwards!" "Home Run," "home run!"  Lucas loves his daddy and likes doing what daddy does.  Golf is still #1 in Lucas' mind though.  His Grammy and P-Daddy gave him a set of clubs for his birthday and he has gotten great use out of them already.  Anything with the word "ball" in the name is a hit with my boy. 

In my new hat Uncle Skeegs & Aunt Lindsey gave me.

Lucas is starting to spell a little too.  He can spell his name, "stop," and "exit."  He likes the ABCs a lot and came name all the letters with their sounds and counts to 11.  He loves to learn!

My favorite thing, however, are the sweet hugs and kisses Lucas shares.  He is such a love.  Oh, and I really love when he laughs real hard, scrunches his nose and covers his mouth with his hands.  Too. Precious.  My heart couldn't be more full.

Ok...so now some random things I would share with my sisters:

• Lucas and I went to a special reading time at the library this week which ends with a craft.  At our table was a mom and her two kiddos (both with beautiful blond hair).  The older child worked meticulously on their craft and I encouraged, "Great job!"and asked, "How old are you?" to which the child responds, "Four."  I replied, "Wow!  You're a big girl!"  Mom chimes in, "No, he's a boy."  Gulp...wow.  He had some of the prettiest blond hair with ringlets I have ever seen.  And, cut me some slack, it was down to his mid-back.  After apologizing and complimenting her son's lovely hair, I justified myself on the ride home by thinking, "that hair WAS really long..."
• I guess I'm growing in wisdom because I found 4 white hairs on my head last night!  I tweezed them out and thought, "Ugh!  There's another!"  After violently trying to pull the 5th one out, I realized it was actually one of the previously mentioned white hairs that had simply fallen from the tweezers back in my hair.  Now not only do I have white hairs, but my eyes are getting bad...

Wow, after writing such a lengthy blog, I guess I can do this.  Thanks for sticking with me!  Until next time (very soon, I promise). 

I made it!

So wow...looks like it's been a year since my last post. After many of you "encouraged" me to start blogging again, I decided to make it my New Year's resolution. I resolve to blog at least once each month. I'm telling you that so that you don't get crazy and expect a new blog every week. Geez, it's been a year. You know I've got to take baby steps getting back into this whole blog thing. It's January 31st, so I'm proud that I made it!

We have been so blessed this past year. Lucas will be 18 months next week and it feels like I was just pregnant with him. He is full of life and laughter. Some of his favorite things to do are:
- Spin in circles and get very dizzy
- Read books
- Run
- Laugh with Mommy and Daddy while jumping on the bed (just Lucas jumping, not us) ;)
- Sing songs
- Drum
- Play basketball or spike his football (although any ball will do)
- Loves giving hugs and kisses
- Clap for himself but will turn to make sure you join in with him
- Likes to identify animals and then make their sounds (especially the lion and elephant)

We are so grateful for God's grace and love and the joy that He gives us through this little gift. Michael is starting up with golf season and will travel with the teams most of the spring. We sure miss Daddy when he's gone, but it makes our times together even more precious!

Here are a few photos from the past year...I know, I'm rolling my eyes at myself too...

Some More Firsts

Lucas has experienced some more "firsts" over the past week. Some good and some not so much. First the bad. On wednesday Lucas received his 4 month shots. Let's just say that lots of soreness and crying ensued. But I am happy to report that we are all doing much better this morning. Last night he experienced rice cereal for the first time. It was a success in that he really liked it, but he couldn't quite figure out how to eat it. There was a lot of lapping and licking going on. And today I (Dad) am happy to report that Lucas is getting ready for his first Big 12 Championship game. And wouldn't you know the Horns are playing! This is a good start if you ask me. And don't think I'm just brainwashing the boy. He's currently glued to College Gameday on ESPN in anticipation of the big one tonight. "If stinkin Mom would just leave me be! You can clip my nails later, woman!"

Our Little Pumpkin

Check out this cute boy. We're kind of partial though.

So, can you believe it? Two posts in two days! Michael and I are loving our new little blessing. Everyday is full of new adventures! Here are a few of Lucas' newest accomplishments:

- Laughing out loud
- Rolling over
- Saying "Ooh, oh, hey, hi, and boo" (not in this order) :)
- Trying to sing with Momma and Daddy
- Standing up (with a little balance help from us)

Lucas is a happy baby and smiles all of the time! He loves to watch people and is very alert. He can hold his toys and now take his pacifier out of his mouth (and sometimes puts it back in). It's pretty funny when we're driving down the road and he takes it out and leaves it on his shoulder...he knows it's there and leans his head over to get it, but can't quite reach it. It makes him really mad.

So yesterday Lucas started coughing to which Momma responded, "Goodness gracious!" He loves hearing those words, so he spent the next 5 minutes fake coughing so that I would keep saying, "Goodness gracious, Little One." It was hysterical! The fake coughs are pretty pathetic and adorable.

One of Lucas' favorite things it to stand on the countertop in front of the mirror before bath time. Lucas just stands there and dances around. He's pretty impressed with himself. I'll have to get Michael to help me post a video of this on the blog.

Here are a few pix of our favorite little baby:

Where Have the Todds Gone?

No new posts since April? We stink! I vow to honor our 5 followers with in-depth coverage of the Todds from now on, whether you want it or not. Lucas is getting big and he's so stinkin' cute. He must be shared with the world. More posts to follow. I promise.

6 Months and Counting

Well, we're 27 weeks now and have decided on a name for our sweet baby boy. He'll be named Lucas Michael Todd. Lucas means 'light' and Michael means 'who is like God? or gift from God.' I love that! We're so excited and enjoying watching him grow! Lucas probably weighs about 2.5 pounds and will gain half a pound each week for the next 10 weeks. He has doubled in weight from a mere 4 weeks ago!!! Lucas is most likely about 15 inches long already! Lucas can now hear both Mommy & Daddy's voices (although Daddy has to get close to my belly). Lucas can even taste the foods I'm eating, so now's the time to eat extra healthy.

Most nights around bedtime, Lucas starts his Tae Bo routine. :) He's a big kicker and it's been fun for Michael to get to feel him kick too! Lucas' eyes have now started opening too! I can't wait to see what color they are.

We're so excited to go for our 4D ultrasound this Thursday! This ultrasound is supposed to show a LOT of detail, so we're anxious to get a sneak peak at Lucas! We're just hoping that he's in the best position so that we can see a lot. We'll certainly post a picture once we get one.

I've been feeling wonderfully too! I think I'm one of THOSE moms...I just LOVE being pregnant. We're about to enter our 3rd trimester, so it's nice to feel like there's still time to enjoy the pregnancy before Lucas arrives. We're continuously asking our Father for wisdom to be loving parents to Lucas. It's CRAZY to think that we'll be welcoming this little boy in just 3 months! How wonderfully different our lives will be! I'll post more at the end of the week after our ultrasound.